U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #3

This was a day of fits and starts.  Alarm, rush about, get Marissa to the hotel downtown for the 7:00AM breakfast, followed by a more leisurely clean-up and shave and another very good breakfast back at the motel.  The morning was leisurely, getting caught up on the PC as well as slowly moving our stuff out to the van ready for our next leg, plus sorting out, in mild panic, the fact that our tonight's reservation was not listed as for "Priddis" but for "John", but at least it did exist!.  Zoe felt energetic and dragged me for an extra long walk around the complex and even over to the edge of the adjacent shopping center.

After a noon check-out and the pleasant surprise that our deposit covered the whole stay & not just the first day, Zoe & I headed to a nearby park to sit, read, lightly picnic, growl and bark at several squirrels that had the temerity to appear within sight, and eventually take a another significant walk.  We were already on our way downtown, through traffic snarls & road works when Marissa called for her pick-up.

Soon we were heading east, making our way to Big John's cider mill complex.  It was breezy, very overcast and occasionally showery, so we stayed much more briefly than last year's visit, but got apples, cider, cheese curds and delicious cookies, and then headed northwards.  Some hours later we reached Mackinaw, kicked off briefly to visit our favorite pasties shop, then back up and over "Big Mac" leaving the Trolls of lower Michigan (so called because they live beneath the bridge!) for the Yoopers of the U.P.

The further north we went the less trees were green and the more they were somewhat colorful, appearing more so as we left the overcast and rain behind and moved into blue skies and sunshine.  Portia led us to our hotel, where we three ate our pasties (see Marissa's blog for pictures today), before unloading clothes more suitable for the northern cool than southern heat.  We have the same room as we had last year and Zoe has celebrated with a burst of zoomies in the sandy plateau outside our patio overlooking Lake Huron.